


don't just dream in your sleep (it's just lazy)

by undercover_martyr



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: Accidental Relationship, F/F, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-05-01 18:28:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19183321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/undercover_martyr/pseuds/undercover_martyr
Summary: Kelley and Alex keep meeting in weird situations, and maybe the world is not so shitty after all





	don't just dream in your sleep (it's just lazy)

She's not into the idea of being up this early.

  
God. It's eight o'clock on a perfectly nice Saturday morning and she could be happy and warm and asleep right about now—all if Allie hadn't insisted that she pick up Tobin from the airport.

  
Really, she doesn't even get why Tobin would get a flight back so early in the morning.

  
(Tobin’s one of the laziest people she knows, and something tells her that this was probably Tobin's mom's idea.)

  
The airport is as busy as always, but everyone seems to be dozing off against the chairs. She’s thirty minutes early. She hates it when Tobin picks her up late, and her mom rubbed off on her, so now she can’t be late to anything without feeling guilty about it, so she decides that taking a nap is the right choice for her.

  
That is, of course, until a girl with a cute dog stumbles over her, apologizing at the same time as she continues to walk towards Starbucks.

  
Kelley stares after her and shakes her head.

  
She’s just about to drift off again when the same girl passes by, this time taking a seat next to Kelley.

  
Her dog wags his tail enthusiastically, playing about Kelley’s legs. He’s a cute little honey-colored chihuahua, and Kelley knows she’s just not going back to sleep now.

  
“That’s a cute dog you’ve got there.”

  
The girl, who was looking out in the direction of the gate lost in thought, smiles at her and shrugs. “Thanks. It’s not really my dog though. He's my best friend’s. I’m just taking care of him while she’s out of town.”

  
Kelley nods and returns the smile. The girl, who was wearing glasses up until they started the conversation, takes them off and just stares at Kelley.  
And Kelley's not cliche at all- being cliche is so stupid- but the girl's really pretty and her eyes are really blue. And when Kelley's description of the exact shade of her eyes becomes 'ocean blue', Kelley gags because what the fuck.

  
Tobin would most definitely make fun of her for even thinking about it, because somehow her oblivious best friend has always been able to read her like a book. She turns her attention to whatever else is there, which is not much at all.

  
The girl types away on her phone, laughing, (not that Kelley's looking at her or anything) and before she knows it, Tobin's walking towards her, looking sleepy and carrying her rumpled duffle bag

.  
"Dude," Tobin says as she approaches her, opening her arms for a hug. Kelley smirks as she complies, and the girl looks up at them and smiles.

  
Kelley smiles back for about five seconds too long before she remembers Tobin is watching, and then Tobin's the one with the shit-eating grin on her face as she slings an arm around Kelley's shoulders and leads them to the exit.

  
"You're the worst best friend ever."  
\-----------------------------------------------------------

  
She's on her third lap around the park and leaving everyone eating dust when she spots a familiar-looking dog just kind of sitting there.

  
Somewhere behind her she hears Allie scream, and then something else that sounds pretty much like Tobin's laugh, but she can't be bothered to care.

  
Instead she makes her way to the dog, dropping her water bottle to the floor and following it. She pets the dog and debates whether or not she should take a picture with him—Boss, his tag reads—and just as she's choosing the right filter for the occasion, she spots two girls coming towards her with something that looks suspiciously like a leash.  
The slightly taller girl all but squeals as she gathers the dog in her arms and kisses him all over.

  
Kelley looks away to find the other girl looking at her, concentration etched in her face, and Kelley could swear she's met this girl before because she looks a lot like-  
"You're a lifesaver!" The owner of the dog says as she squeezes her dog again. "Thank you for finding Boss."

  
Kelley stands up and gives the girl a small smile. "No problem," she says, turning around to face the familiar girl and it all but clicks in her head.  
There's an awkward silence that follows and Kelley's about to turn around and run home because this is definitely the same girl from the airport, but before she can there's an arm being thrown around her shoulder.

  
"Dude. We're in so much trouble. Allie found out about last week and I had to squirt water all over her to get away," Tobin says a little out of breath and getting all over her personal space. "I'm pretty sure she's calling my mom right now—"

  
Tobin finally seems to pick up on the looks Kelley has been giving her for the last two minutes, because she looks away from Kelley and sees the two girls and-  
"Oh. Dang." This is definitely not going the way it should and Kelley's pretty sure that the two girls are laughing at them, and Tobin's smirking at her with that stupid, knowing look.

  
Kelley takes a deep breath and mutters, " I swear we're not as weird as we make ourselves look."

  
The girl with the pretty eyes smiles directly at her and there's definitely recognition there. "You guys are good."  
Tobin smiles at Kelley and Kelley smiles at the girl and it's all so weird.

  
"Yeah, we're just going to—" the girl holding the dog says. Kelley nods and smiles as she turns around to leave, but then she sees Allie coming towards them looking pissed, and no.

  
Kelley grabs Tobin's hand and pulls her along as she runs in the opposite direction, with Allie screaming something that sounds like "what kind of immature idiots are you!" and nipping at their heels.

  
She doesn't look back once, but she's pretty sure she hears the girl with the pretty eyes laughing.  
\------------------------------------------------------------  
Somewhere in between finishing the last of her coffee and reading the last page of her book, Kelley realizes that a trip to the bookstore is way overdue.

  
She places her book, now finished, on her nightstand and gets up a little reluctantly, throwing on some sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt.

  
She grabs her phone and keys, and is half-way down the stairs when she realizes that she lives in New York, and then there's a scuffle between the key and the door as Kelley tries to find a decent jacket.

  
Her worn Stanford hoodie ends up in her hands as she makes her way down the stairs and out the door, braving the cold momentarily as she struggles to put her hoodie on.  
It's a short walk from the apartment to the bookstore, not even ten minutes, and Kelley wiggles the keys in her hand as she whistles to a Hillsong United song that Tobin's been singing for what feels like most of the week.

  
Once she's in the bookstore, she heads to the "Historical Fiction" section and gets to work. She's in the middle of deciding whether to buy one or two books, to save herself from possible midday library runs, when she feels this stupid urge to look up.  
So, she does because why not?

  
And then she finds herself looking at the girl from the airport, who seems to be staring right at her as well, with a surprised little grin that Kelley can't help but find attractive.  
Her hair's up in a bun and she's wearing a navy blue Cal Berkeley hoodie that makes Kelley shudder and shake her head because of course this would happen.

  
The girl shakes her head and does this little nose crinkle slash smile thing as she takes in Kelley's Stanford hoodie.

  
For a second Kelley considers the idea of walking towards her and just saying hi or something, but she settles for waving and smiling back.

  
In the end, she decides to buy both books because she's not about to stand around and be watched by the prettiest girl she's seen in a while and be able to not feel like an idiot.

  
She makes her way to the counter, smiling stupidly, and as she pays for the books. She tries to hold a small conversation with the girl at the register to distract herself.

  
There's a split second decision where Kelley almost walks out of the shop without doing anything, but she decides against it and she ends up kind of just winking at the girl, kind of lurking around at the exit.

  
And then the girl gets up, blushing as she heads out of the shop. She waits until Kelley reaches the door, and on her way out, she purposely brushes against Kelley in a way that completely unsettles the heck out of her life.

  
There's nothing said and the girl doesn't look back, and Kelley walks in the opposite direction.

  
She gets lost and is twenty minutes late to dinner.  
\------------------------------------------------------------  
Allie insists that they need more roomie bonding time, partly because of work, but mostly because Tobin's always gone to wherever it is that she spends her free time at, and so, it is settled that they must have a coffee date.

  
After a lengthy debate about what coffee place is the best one go, they all decide that for the well-being of their coexistence, Starbucks is their best choice.  
Kelley frowns all the way there.

  
"If you weren't such a hipster, we wouldn't be having this problem in the first place."

  
Tobin gets a smack on the arm for that.  
\---------------------------------------------------  
The girl catches her eye the instant Tobin and Allie drag her into the coffee shop, all the while rolling her eyes at her haphazard complaints. The familiar smell of it sits warm and deliciously heavy in her stomach, the slight ache of hunger that had been slowly seizing her stomach quelled then, just at the very smell of it. By the time Kelley slides slowly into a table adjacent to hers, the only thing she feels is anticipation.

  
The girl's thick book goes abandoned, marked by a slender pointer finger as she angles her body towards Kelley, a hesitant but genuine smile growing on her youthful face. She smiles back, ninety-nine percent sure it's too big, too goofy, but the warmth blooming in her chest refuses to let her stop. They make eyes at each other for a few strangely tense, intoxicating moments.

  
"What do you want?" Tobin asks, for what must be the fiftieth time, lazily slapping at her arm, and God, she is totally not helping her game.

  
"Just get me whatever," Kelley whines, her hands falling about impatiently. "It doesn't matter." As soon as the words are out of her mouth, Kelley realizes her mistake.  
She's unreasonably picky about her coffee, always has been, and especially so since meeting Tobin and Allie, because they'll drink anything they're given and that's just not going to fly with Kelley.

  
Allie hums, high-pitched and drawn out, the way she does when she's realizes she's onto something. It's what finally pulls her away from the other girl's ridiculously bright eyes, makes her sheepishly sweep a hand over the back of her neck as she flushes to the tips of her ears.

  
Tobin nods once and seems to take no notice of Kelley's current state before disappearing into the short waiting line, muttering something about how the barista will probably spell everyone's name wrong. Kelley barks out a nervous, overplayed laugh, and, if Allie had not been suspecting of Kelley before, she certainly would be now.  
"Spill," she says, with none of the grace and kindness that Tobin is capable of showing, (which is mostly none, because it's Kelley and Tobin won't pass up an opportunity to make fun of her), tapping her fingers on the table impatiently. Kelley starts to sweat.

  
"Um—" Kelley stalls before she starts, and she looks over Allie's shoulder to find the girl smirking at her. "Uh," She can feel herself blushing and chalks it up to the fact that Allie's looking at her intently, because this is definitely not being caused by the girl.

  
"Good use of your broad, Stanford-approved vocabulary," Allie mocks, eyes following Kelley's gaze as she puts the pieces together.

  
"Oh." There's a little disbelief in Allie's voice but it's gone as soon as it comes—instead replaced with amusement. "Oh."

  
And like the savior and saint she strives to be, Tobin comes back with the coffees, effectively interrupting whatever Allie had going on for a few seconds.  
Kelley feels like she could kiss Tobin right now, but it's not like she actually would do it and it's certainly not like she wants to do it because that would be gross. Also, it's pretty obvious that if Kelley did indeed have to kiss someone in this room, it would be the girl sitting behind Allie.

  
"What?" Tobin asks, smiling at Allie because Allie's smiling at her, mocking and amused, and Allie laughs.  
"It looks like our little Kelley's got herself a crush."  
Kelley puts her head down in her hands and groans, and she remembers why she doesn't go out with Allie and Tobin that much. They don't know how to not be loud.  
Tobin's laughing now, and Kelley knows, and Kelley's pretty sure Tobin knows that Kelley knows, and Kelley's not sure what's going to take to get Tobin to shut up but she's down for whatever.

  
"Oh?" Tobin says, nudging Kelley's shoulder with her hand. "Who's the unfortunate- I mean, uh, fortunate one?"  
Allie motions her head backwards in a way that's painfully obvious and Kelley could just die. Tobin laughs, loud and hard, and she takes her coffee with her as she makes her way over to the table adjacent to them, plopping down next to the girl and smiling at her.

  
And it's stupid because Kelley can't hear anything, but she still blushes, and looks away.  
In her mind, she's halfway down the street and calling Caitlin, the girl she plays pick-up with occasionally on the weekends, asking her to meet up at the park to maybe fool around with the ball a little, but really, she's blushing in shades of red that are questionably healthy and watching her chances with the prettiest girl diminish right before her very eyes.

  
They're talking, Kelley can tell that much. Tobin grins, exaggerating her facial expressions the way she does when she thinks what she's doing is hilarious, and the girl scribbles something quickly on a small piece of paper before handing it off to Tobin.  
Tobin nods and smiles and leaves, like talking to this girl doesn't wipe out her mind and makes her twenty times more awkward than she needs to be (and really, Kelley knows it doesn't because Tobin's not her).

  
"Remind me to never talk to you again," Kelley tells Tobin once she's situated next to her again, and Tobin's still laughing at her, and to be honest, Kelley's kind of pissed.  
"Yeah, sure," she says as she slides a piece paper over to Kelley, who looks up skeptically and-

  
The paper reads "Alex" in girly, tilted cursive, and when Kelley looks at Tobin there's nothing in her gaze but a soft acknowledgement and the warmth that she's known for.  
The next time she looks over at the girl, at Alex, it's no longer difficult to mutter a small "hey" as she walks out of Starbucks and into the crisp morning.  
\------------------------------------------------------------  
@kelleyohara: @tobin17 u the best buddy.  
@tobin17: @kelleyohara i know haha.  
\------------------------------------------------------------

" I know most of you guys came to my class to get fit for prom," their newly-appointed instructor informs them, "it takes hard work and I hope you guys came prepared."  
Tobin laughs quietly, situated in the back of the room, leaning on a set of weights, and Kelley slaps at her arm to get her to shut up.  
Their instructor, Carli, looks at them from the corner of her eye and frowns.

  
It wasn't her idea—frankly, it wasn't even Tobin's idea-—it's just that Kelley's mom had gifted them with fitness classes that they had yet to cash in on, and neither of them had work or anything to do so at the time it seemed like a pretty reasonable suggestion. But, like any of the memories they've ever shared, Tobin's suggestion turns out stupidly wrong.

  
She'd heard the instructors name was Marta or something like that, and probably Brazilian, which was undoubtedly why her mom had chosen her class in the first place (she'd mentioned something about reading that Brazilian trainers did an overall better job because they incorporated zumba into their workout). In the twenty minutes that she's been in here, she's been informed that their former instructor had moved to Sweden, that their new instructor's name was Carli Lloyd, and that about half of the original class had left when Carli arrived because they couldn't keep up with her pace.

  
Kelley was a little worried. Tobin thought it was hilarious.  
"It's just like you to have this luck, Stanford," she mutters as she tries to hide from Carli's line of vision all while keeping her breathing evened out .  
Kelley purposely ignores the little jab and is suddenly determined to get the best out of her mom's money, which means that she pays attention to their instructor with laser-like focus and actually lifts.

  
It takes Tobin an hour to finally sit out for good, much to Carli's dismay, and she makes a show out of it, trying to sell her struggle as she takes her place next to Kelley's discarded bag with hopes of getting a nonexistent reaction from her friend. Once she stops frowning at Kelley, she strikes up a conversation with a neighboring blonde girl—Kristie? Kristin? Kelley can't remember—and the girl begins to tell both of them stories of zumba gone wrong.

  
"We had just started a normal session right? Nothing serious. As soon as we do the first dance move this girl dislocated her right knee."  
Kelley grimaces and Tobin laughs, along with Kristie-Kristen, who checks her watch every few minutes. Kelley's curiosity gets the best of her.  
"You waiting on someone?" she asks, hoping her tone is casual and lifting some more just to be sure.  
"Oh, yeah. Al said she'd be here soon but it's been fifteen minutes since her last text and I'm kind of getting worried," Kristie says checking her phone yet again. "You know what? I think I might just call..."  
Just then, Kristie looks towards the door and smiles, gesturing someone over, and Kelley can only guess it's her friend.  
"Never mind. She's here."

  
Kelley nods and lifts again, turning her music up and giving the conversation up for good, unlike Tobin who seems thrilled.  
Kelley's never been one to work out and socialize anyways, and so she lets the music guide her movements and she eventually she gravitates towards the treadmill.  
Carli seems impressed by her work ethic, and she tells Kelley as much.  
“I just feel like to be the best you have to work the hardest you know?” she asks, fingers touching the back of Kelley’s arms, and Kelley would really like to answer her but she can’t.  
She’s on her second non-stop mile, and Carli seems to understand because she leaves, but not before telling Kelley she can drop by whenever she wishes to, and Kelley finishes off the remaining of her mile before gravitating towards Tobin and the water she’s holding.  
“Dude.” Kelley whines, tired and a little amused, and she really doesn't get why the hell Tobin is smirking at her, but she’s going to go along with it anyways because that’s the base of their friendship.

  
“Dude.” Tobin parrots, with a little nudge and Kristie smirks too, and now Kelley’s just plain out confused because this could mean that-

  
“Dude.” Kelley whispers as she looks behind where Kristie stands and finds Alex lifting weights like nobody's business, and if Kelley thought she might feel a little faint from all the working out she’s done, it doesn’t compare to how weak she feels when Alex finishes off her round and straightens up and locks eyes with her by accident.  
There’s a hesitant smile and there’s Tobin pretending to move out the way smoothly, and really, if Kelley’s going to talk to Alex anytime soon it’s going to be today, and then Alex is standing up and she might be coming to talk to her but Kelley’s not sure and-

  
“Dude!” Allie’s forceful yank pulls her out of her daydream, and Kelley turns around reluctantly because she owes Allie as much. “Did you forget your sister was going to drop by today? I’ve been trying to entertain her for about thirty minutes! And on top of that, Tobin and you never even tell me where you’re going. I had to look at Tobin’s stupid snapchat to find you guys.”

  
Allie’s little outburst has Kelley’s ears going pink and Tobin’s cheeks going sore, and Alex cracks her a smile before Kelley trails after Allie dejectedly.  
Tobin just laughs and gives Kristie her number before running to catch up with her friends.  
\------------------------------------------------------------  
Turns out her sister wants the whole New York experience, which means Kelley trails after her for much of two consecutive days after getting home from work, only piping up at the promise of coffee and the occasional shot at actually catching the Spurs' game for once.

  
Which doesn't happen, because Tobin flat out refuses on the grounds of being a "proper gooner" and Kelley doesn't even know what that means. After, when she tells Tobin as much, she gets a muttered reply about it not being important, because Cesc Fabregas claimed to be one too and look how well that turned out.

  
After the third day, which is to Kelley's luck a Saturday, she actually begs Erin to give her a break, promises to buy her the best gyro ever, and then crashes until about three in the afternoon. By the time she's completely awake and functioning Erin's dragging her out the door on what she calls the "Gyro Hunt of 2014" and she's got Kelley smiling stupidly at her corny jokes.

  
Tobin tags along because she claims to have nothing better to do, but she's got this hellish smirk on her face.  
She's not stupid, she knows there's something going on, but there's no chance she's questioning her in front of Erin because she's not going ruin her life like that.  
Tobin seems hell-bent on trying out this Greek place near the Barclays Center. She's scarily determined to eat there, and Erin doesn't have the heart to say no.

  
"My stomach does not discriminate," she tells Kelley as they enter the restaurant, a smirk on her face and someone's waving Tobin down, and Tobin's leading them to this table in the corner- kinda secluded if you ask her but- and then Tobin's hugging that girl from the gym but Kelley's not paying attention because-

  
There's Alex, smiling up at her, and she might hate Tobin more often than not but she also thinks no one cares for her feelings as much as Tobin does, and the fact that she actually went the distance to make this happen is kinda really amazing.

  
"Hey," and it's not Kelley's voice because she isn't even sure she has one at this point- it's Erin, who has one arm extended for a handshake and the other one around Kelley's shoulders, trying to casually shake her out of her stupor.  
And she really should by all means greet Kristie and Alex like a normal member of society, because she's pretty sure she's come off as a socially inept individual so far and that's really not the essence she want to give people but-  
"Hey." It's just a word and it's everything. It's soft and raspy and totally unexpected and it's got Kelley smiling like an idiot. There's no one else in the room as far as Kelley is concerned.

  
It's cheesy and stupid and Kelley hates herself for it but- Alex is the most beautiful human being ever.

  
It seems she's got no choice over anything today, because she's thrust into a booth- which, really, a booth of all things because her life is obviously a romantic movie all of the sudden- and Alex is thrust right after her, like literally pushed in next to her, and Kelley is sweating.

  
And Tobin is Tobin is Tobin and she's giving Kelley shit without having to utter a word, batting her eyelashes every time she catches her staring at Alex out of the corner of her eye, and that's completely normal anyways. Tobin's always up to give her shit and that's just how they work, and honestly it's something she wouldn't change.

  
They order their food, and dinner goes about fast—courtesy of having good company, Kelley thinks. Alex is actually really funny, funny enough that she’s got Erin wrapped around her finger, and by the time Kelley settles the bill (much to the protest of Kristen and Alex), Kelley’s cheeks hurt. She keeps giving Alex weird looks, she knows this much because Erin and Tobin can’t stop laughing, but honestly, she doesn’t care.

  
When it’s time for them to all go their separate ways, Alex lingers at the back of the group, Kristie having ventured further up to hail a cab. Kelley shivers, mostly due to her proximity to Alex but also because it’s November in New York and she doesn’t have a coat. Alex looks at her, gives her this soft smile that makes Kelley’s inside feel warm, and takes off her coat, offering it to Kelley silently.

  
“Here, it looks like you need it more than I do,” she says with a little laugh.

  
And Kelley just looks at her, unable to speak or smile or anything, because this girl just surprises her in ways that she can’t explain. She takes the coat, puts it on quickly, and catches a wiff of a scent that she knows she won’t get off her mind for a while.  
Alex just smiles at her and keeps bouncing in place, no doubt to keep herself warm, and Kelley feels bad and considers giving her back the coat but it’s almost like Alex has read her mind, because she places a hand gently on Kelley’s shoulder and smiles.

  
“Keep it. Looks better on you anyway.”

  
Kelley smiles, big and stupid and obviously charmed, and she places a hand on top of Alex’s. She thinks of a witty remark, something to even the playing field, but in the end it doesn’t matter, because Kristie is smiling and pulling Alex away towards their cab, and Alex just gives her a smile and a quick “bye” as she trails after her.

  
Kelley is frozen in place, staring after Alex long after their taxi turns the street, and Tobin and Erin just look at each other and laugh.

  
“Dang bud.” Tobin says, wrapping her arm around Kelley’s shoulder lightly, guiding her to the subway station. “Nice jacket you got there.”  
Kelley smiles, and then realizes Tobin is just giving her shit, and smacks her on the back of the head before throwing an arm around Erin and smiling.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
When she checks the pockets of the coat in the safety of her room later that night, she finds a note with Alex’s number and a smiley face.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Author's Note:**

> This has been on my drafts since 2017, and after all the kellex we witnessed today, I decided to finally post it. Let me know how you guys feel, or if you have any suggestions.


End file.
